by Ellen Lane
She only had a moment to wonder what on earth she’d done to deserve this - muggers and then a rabid fucking shifter - before the ground ended.
Only half a scream escaped her as she slid down a steep incline. Georgia found herself hurtling towards a very solid looking pine and then - nothing.
Chapter 5
Solomon was still trying to decide if he was noble or just an idiot. He was on a morning hunt when he heard the labored breathing of an animal in peril - a human animal. His intention was simply to look. After all, he did his best to stay out of business beyond his territory.
But when he’d seen three men pursuing an exhausted, terrified woman, he had to act.
Solomon did not kill lightly. He took little pleasure in violence and would rather maim or wound then take life unnecessarily.
...Which was why the fury that overtook him when he went after the woman’s assailants was highly uncharacteristic. He might have been on edge from the impending threat to his territory, or perhaps stretched thin from the council pressuring him to act against the Doziers... Whatever the cause, he didn’t hesitate to kill a sadistic man in warm blood.
When his bloodlust cooled, however, Solomon didn’t return to his senses immediately. Instead, he turned to consider the human he’d so valiantly rescued.
She lies there on the ground, smeared with blood from numerous cuts, the coppery, unmistakably human scent of it coloring the air. Golden hair lies around her in tangles, branches, and leaves clinging to messy waves. Eyes the color of a summer storm stared at him in a mixture of terror and intrigue, and her ample chest heaved with exertion. She looked as though she’d been through hell...which was the only reason he was able to prevent a prominent erection.
Solomon had long considered women a distraction. While he loved Tempest like a sister, valued several members of his clan for their tenacity, and found many of the females in his pack attractive, he had never let his baser instincts rule him. He was far past the years where rutting ruled a male’s brain.
So why the hell did this human woman so immediately intrigue him?
Humans were weak - they hadn’t been blessed with the strength, speed, or quick healing that their lupine counterparts had. Even when it came to unbridled fucking, wolves were instinctively drawn to the most powerful and capable. This girl was the very antithesis of that. All things considered, he should have been grateful to the deer that momentarily distracted him.
Instead, he merely found himself annoyed when it gave the already injured woman a chance to leap up and flee - right towards the edge of the mountain.
For a moment, Solomon toyed with the idea of letting her go. There was a chance she’d turn back and stumble towards the safety of the running path she’d come from. Really, there was no need to meddle any more than he already had.
And yet...
A sudden yelp of pain had him sprinting after her on instinct, his heart in his throat. Solomon arrived at the edge of a steep incline, skidding to a stop where his quarry hadn’t quite been able to. He frowned deeply at the sight of her supine form a few yards down the slope before picking his way carefully after her.
Though absolutely naked, Solomon was extremely sure-footed. He’d spent his life roaming these woods with his animal - the soles of his feet were like well-worn leather, and his senses impeccable.
Which was, of course, how he knew the little human hadn’t expired on him.
When he reached her, he knelt beside her, taking in the entirety of her diminutive form. She’d dressed for exercise, in figure-hugging leggings that were teared in several places by her flight through the trees. Solomon was awarded with glimpses of plump, shapely bare thigh where the material of her leggings peeled back from her skin, and the sight made his chest tighten.
This was absurd.
She was out cold, a bloody lump among all that golden hair, and he was drooling over her like an adolescent. He should call someone from Dockery to come to get her...her and all the creamy skin exposed by the dark-colored tank top she wore. The damned thing was so low cut that her tits were all but spilling out...and Solomon caught himself wondering what color their tips were.
A snarl rose in his throat.
He had obviously lost his mind. He was standing over an unconscious woman with his dick raging. How was he any worse than the men who’d been chasing her?
Taking a deep breath, Solomon turned from her, willing his mind - and his body - to calm. It was hard when he could still smell her - lavender and something sweet beneath all the blood and sweat of her exertion - but, somehow, he managed.
He couldn’t call in someone from Dockery. God knew that the peace they kept with the townspeople was tenuous as it was. If he summoned someone in and they found the woman like this, who knew where they would fling the blame.
But he certainly couldn’t leave her here. She probably had a nasty concussion and her ankle might be broken.
Running a hand through his dark, disheveled hair, Solomon grunted in frustration. There was no going down to Dockery as he was, which meant that he’d have to take her back to the pack - and Anne.
Usually, human interaction with wolves on their lands was strictly regulated. People had to register months in advance and pass a detailed vetting process - and even so, they still got their fair share of humans who came just to make a mockery of shifter kind.
Somehow, Solomon didn’t think this one fell into the latter category. She’d been absolutely terrified of him, even after he saved her, so chances were they’d have to struggle just to keep her calm. The thought of dealing with a human woman in hysterics didn’t sit too well with him, but neither did leaving one to bleed out in the middle of his territory.
Resigning himself to the inevitable, Solomon bent to lift her into his arms gingerly, careful of her head. She weighed next to nothing - and despite her ordeal, she was soft and pliant in his arms.
Christ, when was the last time he’d had a woman? He must be going through withdrawal - that was the only explanation for how she could affect him so strongly.
Stubbornly, Solomon forced himself to focus on the challenge carrying her presented. Though she wasn’t heavy, it would take hours to get back to the settlement in his man form. Hours he hadn’t counted on spending away.
Scowling, he headed north, hoping against hope that he could get her back relatively unnoticed.
“You have got to be shitting me.” Solomon barely made the edge of the settlement before he ran into his brother. Hunter, it turned out, had just come back from a run. Even though he was still recovering from his injuries, he insisted on carrying out his duties as if nothing had changed.
The smaller wolf shifted from lupine to man form in seconds - a feat that must have hurt like hell - before he was at Solomon’s side, grinning gleefully. The gesture stretched the scarred side of his face taut, making his missing eye even more prevalent.
Hunter was convinced it made him look hardcore. “You stole a human.”
Guilty as he felt over Hunter’s attack, Solomon was hardly in the mood for his antics. “I didn’t steal her.” He glared at his brother in warning. “Thugs were chasing her. She slipped and fell.”
“Before or after you disemboweled them?” Hunter’s grin only widened, drawing a growl from Solomon’s throat.
“I didn’t disembowel anyone.” That was true enough. He’d snapped a single neck. He assumed the two that escaped were perfectly fine. “Now move, she’s injured.”
“No fucking kidding. I could smell her blood a mile away”
It was just Solomon’s luck that he ran into the village loudmouth on his way in. It was impossible not to hear Hunter’s yammering, and so, naturally, there was a crowd of wolves waiting to see who he’d brought in from the cold.
“Who is that?” Lukas, Sheila’s oldest son, was immediately at the forefront of the group, elbowing his way into prominence. “What happened to her?”
Pups were pawing at their parents, whining that they wanted to see t
he human, while their mothers gazed between Solomon and the unconscious woman with no small amount of suspicion. The commotion threatened to drive him up the wall. “Space!” He barked, scattering the crowd immediately.
Hunter, however, stuck by his side like a leech, heedless of his own nakedness. “Where the hell did you find her?”
Solomon only grunted in reply, striding double-time towards Anne’s cabin. He couldn’t imagine what this looked like to his pack. Under normal circumstances, there was no way any of them believed him capable of attacking a human. But with the strain he’d been under lately…
Anne was waiting for him on the front porch. At the sight of the human in his arms, her dark eyes widened in shock. “Solomon…?”
“I know I’m an idiot.” He crested the stairs two at a time, sweeping into her home to lay his burden gently on one of the tables Anne used to examine her patients. “Just tell me how badly she’s hurt.”
“I assume she’s not registered?” Though her tone was disapproving, Anne was already washing her hands in a nearby sink. “Does anyone know she’s here?”
“Better here than hanging off the side of the mountain.” Solomon raked both hands through his hair in agitation, the bulging muscles of his arms stretching taut. “She was at least a mile or two off the jogging trail. Who knows when they would have found her.”
“And what was she doing so far into the woods?” Anne examined her newest patient with gentle fingers, drawing bloodstained blonde locks from the nape of her neck. “She’s got quite the knot here. What happened?”
“Hit her head on a tree.” Solomon swallowed thickly as the scent of human blood grew stronger. “And something’s wrong with her ankle as well.”
“Let me see - “When Hunter leaned over the supine woman, Solomon surprised even himself with the ferocity of his response.
“Back up, Hunter.” His snarl made even Anne flinch. He stepped between his brother and the female on the table protectively. “And for God’s sake, put some fucking pants on!”
Hunter knew better to test his brother - or his Alpha - when he was in a mood. He backed towards the door slowly - at least until Anne stopped him in his tracks.
“There are some spare parts in the back room, Hunter, but you’re not going anywhere until I’ve had a look at that eye.” Hunter flinched, muttering an epithet under his breath that had Anne rolling her eyes. “You leave this cabin, I hunt you down. I swear it.”
It was only once Hunter stomped off down the hall that Solomon allowed himself to relax somewhat. He gazed down at the woman on the table before him as Anne bandaged her head wound with the utmost care. He didn’t, in fact, realize just how close he was to her until Anne huffed exasperatedly. “I need room to work, Alpha!”
He forced himself to take a step back, sinking into one of Anne’s plush leather couches.
What the hell was wrong with him? Since he’d encountered the little blonde, he’d scarcely been able to think of anything else. Closing his eyes, Solomon forced his head to clear.
He couldn’t afford distractions right now. Since the Dozier attack on Hunter, his nerves had been wound tighter than a bowstring set to snap. He’d enforced curfews on pack members and added extra patrols during all hours to ensure that they weren’t caught unaware again. The council was urging him to call for a Clansmeet, and he was trying to keep panic from spreading. No one who saw Hunter’s mangled face could possibly believe there was no threat.
He might very well be on the cusp of a pack war, and here he was ogling a human woman.
...A gorgeous woman, even as beat up and dirty as she was. Solomon couldn’t help but wonder what color her eyes were, and if she would still look at him in fear when she woke again.
“Her ankle has a minor fracture.” He jerked to attention when Anne spoke again, turning his head to meet her piercing gaze. “She’ll have to rest a few days before she can try walking on it...and I assume she’ll be doing that resting here?”
Solomon swallowed the irritation that rose at Anne’s accusation. He could hardly blame her. The humans that came to the settlement caused as many problems as they solved, which was why they didn’t allow tourists more often than they could afford.
This, however, wasn’t about tourism. Someone was very likely to go looking for this woman if she went missing - which meant they risked a blow to the already tenuous public image of their kind. They would have to have a serious talk when she woke.
...The prospect of which sent a totally unwelcome thrill through him.
“I can handle this, Solomon.” Anne seemed to be dismissing him as she worked. “I’ll make sure the human is comfortable and see to your brother - I know you have more important matters to tend to.”
She was absolutely right.
Despite the fact that the heavenly smelling little human was still out cold and he had no idea how she’d react when she woke, there was no way Solomon could afford to wait for her.
“Thank You, Anne.” He forced a grim smile as he rose. “Keep me informed.”
In the next minute or so, Solomon put as much space between him and their unwelcome guest as he could. He stalked through the settlement, past staring, curious eyes and wild pups, to his own cabin, shutting himself soundly inside.
“Fuck.”
It was like waking up from a dream. Solomon scrubbed his hands over his eyes, wondering, not for the first time if his sanity was failing him. Being Alpha was no easy task to begin with, and now he had to struggle against being male?
It had to be the pressure.
Solomon couldn’t pretend he was as steady as he’d always been. He lived in constant trepidation of the next attack on his pack - so much so that the precautions he put into place had begun to irritate them. So far, the Dozier pack had yet to make another move.
The Elders seemed to consider this confirmation that, whatever the attack had been, it was just the one-off. Someone would have to face justice, but the Clansmeet could decide that. Solomon himself still wasn’t certain calling one was the best idea. If Ephraim had somehow taken over the Dozier pack, he might take it as an open invitation to attack.
In times like these, Solomon wondered what his father might have done.
Any time his mind meandered to his parents; he did his best to steel himself against the tidal wave of emotions that threatened. But this wasn’t about his parents’ relationship. There were few members of the pack who wouldn’t profess that Adam Belleview had been the best Alpha in half a century. Kind, but strict. Strong, but fair. Ferocious in battle but loving towards his own family.
Of course, Adam had leaned on his Second and his new mate heavily. By this time, Solomon’s mother had long been out of the picture.
Solomon himself had never chosen a Second. Young, impetuous males vied for the position, and Hunter constantly bugged him about the power void the empty position created, but Solomon was torn. Did he encourage more infighting among the males of the pack to find the strongest for the position? Or did he merely appoint someone he trusted? He’d thought several times to make Hunter his Second, but his brother insisted that he couldn’t shoulder that kind of responsibility.
It was times like this that he wished he hadn’t been so stubborn. He needed the advice of a Second - of someone who knew him intimately enough to understand his own fears and ambitions. There was no one who understood him as well as Hunter - but his brother still needed time to recover from his injuries. That, and the last thing Solomon wanted at this juncture was for Hunter to tease him about their unwelcome guest.
He exhaled a harsh breath, scrubbing hands over the stubble on his face as he shoved the human woman to the back of his mind. He’d have some explaining to do when she woke, to be sure, but after that, it was only a matter of keeping her safe until they could return her to Dockery. That would be the end of it.
He was preparing to head to his Grandfather’s cabin to discuss the issue when his own front door burst open, hanging half from its hinges with the for
ce of the intruder’s entry.
It was Lukas. Half of his face was bloodied, his clothing torn and his eyes glowing, half-lupine. “Alpha!” His voice was hoarse with exertion and panic. “There’s been another attack!”
Chapter 6
“Kneel.”
This was a nightmare.
“I said kneel.”
From the edge of the circle, Titus could just make out where Warner and Justin, two wolves Ephraim had chosen for both their brutality and idiocy, shoving captives of their assault onto the hard dirt of the forest floor.
Everyone in the pack was in attendance.
How couldn’t they be? Ever since Ephraim had dragged the half-dead form of his brother into the center of their village three weeks ago and demanded the allegiance of every last pack member, no one dared defy him. Those three weeks had proven that their crazed new Alpha was just as violent as he’d promised - and more.
Raymond’s death was particularly grisly. Titus didn’t know if this was because Ephraim had wanted to send a message, or because he still felt the agony of his lifelong friend as if his death were just yesterday. Raymond had been his mentor - like a father to him when no one else in the pack wanted to deal with an outsider. He had worked his entire life to make him proud and becoming his Second was the culmination of Titus’ ambitions.
If only he had put Ephraim down when he had the chance, Raymond would still be alive.
Even now, three weeks later, the former Alpha’s blood still stained the ground in the center of the settlement. Ephraim refused to allow anyone to clean it up - as if they needed a reminder that Raymond’s rule had ended.
Of course, his second order of business had been the slaughter of the clan Elders. They hadn’t put up very much of a fight. Titus was fairly certain that they knew they weren’t long for the world the moment they found out about Raymond’s murder. Ephraim had clashed with them from childhood. He was continually punished and isolated in an effort to curb his vicious appetite for violence.